Washington Wizards: 5 reasons Troy Brown Jr. was a good pick

4. He gives the Wizards another playmaker

Since I started writing, I have always strived to be fair in my analysis and opinions, lest I become a Skip Bayless-esque, hot take machine. With that in mind, I hope what I’m about to say doesn’t qualify as a nonsensical, smoldering take. Here it goes: I think that John Wall is a bit overrated.

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Wall is an excellent playmaker and distributor, but his ball-dominant style hasn’t had an exponential effect on the growth of the team. Washington’s net rating increased from -1.1 to +4.2 with Wall on the floor, but three of their five most productive lineups this season did not include him. He was also one of the worst pick-and-roll players in the league this year, averaging just 0.70 points per possession.

I’m not going to delve too much further into Wall’s season, particularly because there is already a great player grades piece about him on this site. I’m also not saying that the team is better off without Wall. But I think that last year showed that the Wizards could take the ball out of his hands a bit and they would be fine.

With Brown now on the roster, the Wizards have another player — along with Beal — that can handle the ball and create his own shot. Brown can also create scoring opportunities for his teammates, as he averaged 3.7 assists per 40 minutes in his lone season at Oregon.

Brown would have to cut down on his turnovers after averaging 2.8 per 40 minutes at Oregon, but if he can, the Wizards will have another solid wing player that can handle the ball.